Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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DRAG RAC ING NHRA WIN STON DRAG RACING SERIES By Kevin McKenna MEMPHIS, TN, ocr.9·11 0 , just who is the be st Pro Stock Bike racer on the NHRA tour? Three months ago, no o n e would have dared suggest tha t reigning cla ss champion Ma tt Hines w as a nything o ther tha n th e kin g of NH RA's tw o-w hee l Pro Stock clas s. Now the ' answer isn't so obvious . At the Pennzo il Na tio nal s in Memphis, Tea m Winston rider Angelle Seeling scored her seco nd s tra ig h t fi na lround victo ry over the Vance & Hine s Eagle One Suzuki, but u nlike the situa tion pri or to her w in at the recent Keystone Na tiona ls in ' Read ing, Pennsylvan ia , Se eling entere d this fin a l as th e od ds-on favorite and d elivered with a so lid 7.28 p erformance, as H ines redlighted and then shu t off after his Suzuki GSX-R ju mped ou t of third gear just off the starting line. "I had a lot more confidence this time tha n I ha ve had in some of ou r other ra ces," sai d Seeli ng , w ho ha s raced Hines se ve n times in final rounds th is seaso n - incl ud ing the last five NHRA races in Denver, Brainerd, Ind ianapolis, Read ing, and now Mem phis. "We start- Round 12: Memphis M otorsports Park I ed catching him at Den- ~ ver, and by the time we " go t to In d y, I fe lt we I were just about even. I choked at tha t race because I thou ght I a lr ead y had th e fin a l wo n before we raced , and I lost it. Three weeks ago in Read ing, I stayed focused a nd we beat him , a n d I d id t h e sam e th in g here . This tim e , I h ad e ve n m o re co n fid e n ce becau se we had the quicker bike, and w e had la ne choice. For once, a ll th e pressure was on hi m: ' Indeed , Seeling did take the top spo t in qu alifying, wit h a personal-bes t 7.25, bu t Hines was jus t a tick behi nd wi th a 7.26, and it was fa r fro m a two-ho rse race, as Joh n Smith, Greg Underd ahl, and former six-time Winston Pro Stock Bike cha mp Dave Schultz all qua lified wi th elapsed times qu icker than Hines' yea r-old track recor d of 7.35. In elimina tions, Seeling opened with a 7.26 wi n over Red ell Harris, but Hines fo ll owed w it h a 7. 25 aga inst fo r me r NH RA Srortsma n Mot orcycle cha m pi- j on Crai g Treble. In the quarterfinals, the bal a nce of power s hifted to Seeli n g' s co rner, as she took ou t Steve Johnson with a 7.29, and Hines slowed slig htly to a 7.30 bu t st ill had little troubl e w ith Gary Tonglet, who trailed wit h a 7.48 on his Team Plasti Dip Suzu ki. Iro nicall y, neith er Hines nor Seeling had the quickest bike in th at ro u nd : Smit h rod e the Anoka-Ramsey Sport Cente r Suzuki to a 7.28 to beat rookie-of-the-year conte nder Tony Mull en, who was well behind with a 7.42. Smith nearl y d er a iled H ines in the se mifi na ls, bu t ju st as the C hris tma s Tree s tarting system wa s act ivated , his : Suz uki rolled backward ou t of the stagin g beams, resulting in a red -l ight ed . 1 start. "Our com puter showed tha t we we re going to ru n another 7.28, so I think we would have given Matt all he cou ld hand le," sa id Smith, who has been ranked third in the poi nt s battle all season. "I feel bad , not just because I red-lighted , but becau se we cheated the fans ou t of what would have been a good sid e-byside race. We're ru nni ng great now, but w e haven ' t had a ny luck all seaso n. I definitely think I w e s ho u ld h a ve been in a final or tw o by now ." In the other half of the sem is , Seeli ng ma d e q uick wo r k o f Gre g NC N ' Un der da hl's Co m m u n ica t i o n s ' Suzuki, 7.26 to 7.35, to ea r n a s p o t in h er 12th ca ree r fi n a l round. " I h a d a lo t of fa m ily m emb ers here this weekend, a n d I wa n ted . to do well for them," sa id Seeling, who r ema in s locked into second place in th e p oi nts b attl e . " My cre w ga ve m e the best bike this weekend , a nd I d idn't wa nt to let them d own. We didn' t ge t an y com pu ter da ta on three of our four run's , and they still managed to make our best ru ns ever." Hi nes also believed he had the best bike, especially after he and \ h is fa th e r , Byron , c ha nged eng ines before the final round . "There was nothing wrong with our other engine e xce p t it was d own on po wer a little," said Hines, whose finalroun d red-light was his first fou l start in more than a yea r. "In the final, the bike felt reall y good on the bu rnou t, and I thought we we re going to make an other 7.20 ru n, but I just popped the clutch a little too soo n. Then the bike jumped out of gea r, so I wasn' t going to wi n anyway. "It' s tou gh , beca use I'm used to havin g fiv e-hu nd red th s or a ten th on the field, a nd I don 't have that advantage right now ," H ines added . "Fortuna tely, we have the cha mpionship locked up, so all we have to do is concen tra te on wi no, ning the last tw o races of the year and then ge t to work on our p ro gra m for 1999. O ur new shop in Colorado is just abo u t fini shed , so we sho u ld reall y be able to ge t a lot accom plished thi s off- · f~ seaso n." . Memph is Mot ors ports Park Memph is, Tennes see Results : October 9-11 (Round 12 of 14) PRO ST K FINAL : 1. Angelle Seeling (Suz ) 7.28,J 18253; 2. M'ltt Hines (Suz) fou l. Upcoming Rounds: Round 13 - Houston, Texas, Oct ber29·November 1 o Round 14 · Pomona, Califomia, Novemb 12·15 er 00 0\ 0\ ,..... 00 C'J l-< iJ) .c o ...... u o 26 (Above) With her most recent win at t he Pennzoil Nationals in Memph is, Team Win ston 's Ange lle Seeling has no w won fi ve NHRA national events in her threeyear car eer, and she has been to the final round 12 ti mes in th at span . (Left) For the lirst ti me in more than a year, Malt Hines (near lane) lost a Pro Stock Bike final on a red-li ght start. Hines' foul all owed Seeling to win her second straight race and her third of 19~8 .